Sunday, August 10, 2014

Crossing into California - Joshua Trees, Western American Railroad Museum, Harvey House and Los Angeles


After two days in Las Vegas, we hit the road again for the last leg of our Route 66 odyssey.  By 10am, we were back onto Route 66 and had travelled across the state line into California:


where we encountered close-up the magnificent Joshua tree featured at the top of this post. 


I have a mild obsession with Joshua trees, because they have such a cool name and because U2 named an album after them.

Following a short pit stop, we drove on to the Western American Railroad Museum (WARM) in Barstow:


They opened their doors especially for us on a day when it doesn't normally open, and a few passers-by who chanced on the opening also visited the museum.

There is a significant amount of Route 66 memorabilia in the museum, and outside, there are lots of old railway engines and carriages for a touch of train spotting:
 

 
The museum owners kindly provided cordial and biscuits to quench our traveller's thirst and hunger. 
 
Next to WARM is the rather grand Barstow Harvey House, which used to be a hotel:
 



It sounded quite tough to be a "Harvey girl" - imagine not even being able to converse with patrons - and if they converse with you, wouldn't it be rude to ignore them:


Curiously, in the office window of WARM, I found an item of memorabilia from close to home:  


How and why it came to be there, I do not know, but it certainly caught my eye.

WARM also features a wonderful mural in the car park, which is worth a mention:
 

We left WARM for lunch  at a non-descript, depressing fast food complex (Panda Express was the best option) before motoring on through the hills:


and arriving in Los Angeles - I loved these freeway murals of children playing:


The traffic at the end of the working day was not so bad:



In the evening, we would officially reach the end of Route 66 in Santa Monica - but that is for another post.

685 North First Street
Barstow, CA 92311
United States
Ph: +1 760 256 9276
 


681 North First Avenue
Barstow, CA 92311
United States
Ph: +1 760 256 8617

4 comments:

Johanna GGG said...

Love all the hotels you visit on route 66 - and have never seen a joshua tree before - the name of the tree is very familiar from U2 - and how funny to see that police badge

The Caked Crusader said...

I had to show this to Mr CC - he's a train nerd!

Kari said...

I've loved following on your journey. The scenery has changed so much, and is so different to anywhere I've been. I laughed at the list of rules for Harvey girls here too - thank goodness times have changed!

Kayte said...

A big U2 fan here as well, and Joshua Tree one of my absolute favorites in the lineup. Gorgeous scenery photos. Wasn't that whole Harvey Girls thing fun to learn about? I have read about them in history books and such my whole life and they always seem such a fun thing to study...such an interesting way of life and how the girls chose to go out west and do this. LOL on LA traffic. You hit a good day! :-)